When Do You Say the “L” Word?
by Jho
Summary: Naruto desperately wants to find out when is the right time to tell someone you love them.


When Do You Say the "L" Word?  
By: Jho

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Disclaimer: Naruto belongs to Kishimoto-San. I am a very poor student. Kishimoto-San, please share with me some of your wealth!

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_Italics indicates a person's thoughts, flashback, or action/s_

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Konoha's number one most surprising ninja was trying to enjoy his special miso ramen at Ichiraku, but there seemed to be something off with his mood. 

Jiraiya raised an eyebrow as he glanced left to his student. "Oi brat, what's wrong with you? Usually you can devour more than ten servings, but you're still on your first cup." _Not that I should be complaining much, since this meal is on me._

Naruto looked up with some ramen stuck in his mouth and said, "Wha-?" After taking a moment to slurp the rest in, he asked, "What are you blabbering about now, pervert-Sennin?"

The toad hermit frowned. "Brat, what did I tell you about calling me that? Call me Jiraiya the Wise, Jiraiya the respectable Sannin, Jiraiya the Sexy Ninja with hordes of woman kneeling at his feet," the Sannin declared with his super pervert expression.

The blonde rolled his eyes and muttered, "That's why you'll always be pervert-Sennin."

Jiraiya pushed that comment aside and took on an air of fatherly concern. "Seriously, what's bothering you?"

Naruto sighed as he thought about the reasoning behind his current predicament. _Pervert-Sennin is usually useless in terms of feelings but once in a while he gives some good advice._

Knowing that he was going to regret sharing; Naruto softly asked, "When is the right time to say the "L" word?"

_Moment of Silence._

"HAHAHA," Jiraiya cracked up with laughter and couldn't believe it was finally that time for his student. Naruto pouted and glared at the Sannin's laughter.

"Oh, stop it, Jiraiya-San. Don't tease him," Ayame chided angrily. Naruto was one of her favorites and she couldn't stand seeing his honest question being ridiculed by the Sannin. Naruto gave her a look of gratitude for her support.

"Hoho Naruto, is it finally that time for you? I'll give you some good advice," Teuchi said with a kind face.

The blonde's eyes lighted up. "Will you do that old man? Any advice will be great!"

Teuchi positioned his hands in 'thinking mode' as he thought about the best advice he could give. "Well when you say it depends on who you like, what kind of girl is she?"

Naruto blushed as he thought about her. "Well she's pretty and real nice. And umm…she's really pretty," was all he could come up with after some serious thought.

Teuchi sweat dropped at the blonde's lack of detailed description. "Well if it's for a special girl, you can always get her some special ramen at Ichiraku's!"

Ayame swatted a fan over the back of her father's head. The ramen cook started to cry a river as he exclaimed, "Oh my daughter, you never hit your father!"

The ramen girl smiled at her father's silly look and said, "Don't listen to him Naruto, what you need to do is get some flowers and treat your girl out to a nice dinner. I'm sure she'll really like that."

Naruto frowned in thought. _Hmm that sounds nice…but…_ He continued, "I don't think I can even get to that point with her. Thanks for the advice old man, Ayame-chan; remember the tab is on the pervert there." The blonde got up from his seat and waved to them as he ran to his next destination.

Jiraiya grinned and said proudly, "My student is sure taking after me now." He looked up to Ayame with the puppy dog eyes. "Ayame-chan, would you like to-"

"No," the ramen girl quickly replied.

"But!" the pervert-Sennin quickly interjected.

"No means no Jiraiya-san. I would gladly go out with Naruto-kun a million times and even after that still not go out with you," Ayame declared with a grin.

Jiraiya shouted, "Oh the humility, this Sannin can't even defeat his student on sex appeal!" as he imitated Teuchi's state of crying.

* * *

Running towards Yamanaka Ino's flower shop, Naruto took a quick glance at his watch to check what time it was. 

_Good, it's only a little pass noon._

As he entered, he stopped as his mouth dropped open. There were so many beautiful flowers and amazing scents, the blonde had no idea that flowers could be so diverse!

Ino noticed a new customer arriving and she couldn't cover her surprise. "Naruto! You've never came in here before, what can I do for you?"

Naruto blushed and placed a hand behind his head as he mumbled, "Can I get some flowers, please?"

She clasped her hands together and widened her eyes as she put two and two together. "Who's the lucky girl?" Ino asked slyly.

"Wha-at? What makes you think it's a girl!" Naruto shouted with an air of defiance as he crossed his arms.

Ino couldn't help but to smirk at the Kyuubi container's expression. "If it's not for a girl, then I don't want to serve you."

His eyes opened in shock as he pointed a finger at her. "That's not fair!"

_Tap, tap, tap_

Ino's right shoe went up and down as she raised an eyebrow and waited for him to fess up.

Naruto sweat dropped as he realized she wasn't going to help until he told the truth. He sighed and said with wistful eyes, "It's for a special girl…"

Ino grinned as she definitely knew who this special girl was. "Don't worry about it Naruto, I know the exact ones you should get her."

* * *

The blonde walked out of the shop with a smile on his face, happy with his purchase. 

As he walked, he saw a blue-haired female crossing his direction and noticed it was none other than Hinata. "Hey, Hinata-channn! How are you?"

The Hyuga girl looked up and suddenly had a wild look in her eyes. _Na-Naruto-kun! I'm n-not ready for this s-so soon!_

The blonde walked up to her and looked at her curiously. "Hinata-chan," Naruto began to say as he tilted his head to the side, "You always seem really strange whenever I see you." If there's one thing the Kyuubi container was known for, it was being one hundred percent blunt.

Hinata's spirit dampened at that seemingly innocent comment. She gathered her wits about her and asked as she twiddled her thumbs, "Na-Naruto-kun, how can I h-help you?"

Naruto put his thinking cap mode on for just a moment. _Hinata's a girl. Though she's kinda strange, she's always helpful. She's the perfect one to ask!_

"Well you see…" Naruto paused as he blushed and bowed his head. "There's this girl I really like and I just wanted to ask…when's the best time to say the "L" word?"

In a moment of insight, the Hyuga girl took a glance at his flowers and realized that this girl Naruto liked was probably not her. Finding herself depressed even more, she wanted to go into a closet and cry. But she couldn't go until she could help Naruto out. Even though Naruto might not like her, she wanted him to be happy no matter what.

Hinata looked down to her twitching fingers as she thought of the right words to say for her favorite person. "Na-Naruto-kun, I'm certain t-hat whoever it is, she w-will be really r-really happy if you m-mean it with all your h-heart."

Naruto felt very comforted by the Hyuga girl's encouragement. "Thanks a lot Hinata-chan, you're the kind of girl I can always count on!" the blonde said with a grin as he ran off. He never noticed the quiet tears that fell behind him.

* * *

In a rush to get to his next destination, Naruto noticed his teacher walking with his head dropped low. "Kakashi-sensei, I haven't seen you since yesterday," the blonde exclaimed as he slowed down. 

Without looking up from his favorite _Come Come Paradise_ novel, Kakashi smoothly said, "Yo," and continued walking on.

Naruto stepped in pace beside his teacher as a thought struck him. _Kakashi-sensei is always reading that damn book of his, maybe he can help me!_

Before the blonde could fully turn his face to ask his question, he fell back as Kakashi's face was right before him with the Sharingan revealed. "W-Whoa," Naruto grumbled in surprise. "I wasn't expec-"

"I know, Naruto. I know all things. You don't even need to ask. The girl. It's the girl!" Kakashi chanted in a weird hypnotic voice with his Sharingan spinning and staring right at Naruto.

"Stop that Kakashi-sensei! You're creeping me out," Naruto said in a whiny voice.

"If that's the case," the white-haired jounin paused as he covered his Sharingan eye again, "I guess I won't help you."

Naruto widened his eyes as he knew his teacher was being serious. "Aww c'mon Kakashi-sensei, I was just joking. Help me!"

"No," Kakashi simply replied.

"Pleaseee," Naruto asked again with a very cute fox-like pout.

"No," Kakashi replied again. "You lost your chance once you insulted the Eye."

"Tch, fine, be that way Kakashi-sensei!" Naruto sulked as he stuck his tongue out.

"No problem, I will be _this_ way, Naruto-kun," the jounin replied calmly with added emphasis while he was reading his novel.

The blonde frowned and was about to say something else when a green blur flashed in front of him and shouted, "Dynamic Entry!"

Kakashi easily parried the attack with his left arm as he kept reading his book without looking up.

Gai grinned and gave an 'unmanly' pose, "Ohh my rival Kakashi, as impressive as always!"

The sharingan user turned a lazy eye and asked, "Hmm, did you say something?"

The untamed green beast gave a mightily disgusting shake and shouted, "Ohh Kakashi, you are so hip that way!"

A giant sweat drop appeared on the side of Naruto's head and he was so preoccupied that he didn't notice the sound of another shout, "Dynamic Entry Junior!"

With that shout, Rock Lee made a burning kick entrance and easily knocked the blonde over. The chunin felt really bad and immediately made his way over to apologize. "Sorry Naruto-kun! I thought for sure that you would block my burning kick!"

However, Naruto totally zoned Lee's apology out. All he could do was gaze forlornly on his destroyed flowers. _Damn she would have really liked them…_

Gai noticed the blonde's predicament and couldn't help but make an unnecessary comment on the situation. "Ohh Naruto-kun, you are bursting with youth! Don't worry young one, love paves new paths for those who are determined. You can surely win your affections with hard work!"

Naruto then turned and gave what Gai thought was the most depressed sky-blue eyes he had ever gazed into his entire life. Even when he gazed into Lee's soul when the boy thought he could never become a ninja again – even those pitiful eyes could not match the sadness that was radiating from the blonde before him.

"What do you do…when even hard work isn't enough," Naruto whispered with tears starting to form in his eyes. He tried to cover his tears from the others. _Only sissies cry when they're sad!_ He turned around and tried to run as far away as possible.

Rock Lee turned to his teacher guiltily and exclaimed, "Gai-sensei, I've done a horrible thing! Will the fates forgive me?"

Gai turned visibly shaken to his student. He thought, '_Lee you baka!' _as he couldn't get rid of the abnormally sad face he saw from the normally vibrant and energetic blonde. However, he was able to get rid of that feeling quickly enough.

The green beast gave his student the nice guy pose, and shouted, "The burning fire of youth is with our comrade! With all his hard work and strong feelings, the fates will surely shine upon his brightness!

Lee felt comforted by his teacher's encouraging words for Naruto and gave Gai a strong hug in return.

"Gai-sensei!"

"Lee!"

"GAI-SENSEI!"

"LEE!"

At the end of the two ninja's 'unmanly' hug, a beach at sunset with crashing waves appeared magically behind them.

Kakashi who subtly witnessed the whole scene shivered and gave them a '_Are you stupid'_ look. _Pft…I'm surrounded by bakas._

* * *

Naruto was running so hard; he didn't even notice it when he ran straight into a certain lazy chunin. Shikamaru picked himself up and was about to dismiss softly whoever it was that rushed into him, until he noticed the state of who he collided with. _Tch…troublesome._

Now it is well known that Shikamaru is one of the laziest, if not _the_ laziest person around. And even for a situation where someone deliberately ran into him, he found it easier to forgive and forget than to get heated over some silly thing like that. However, when he saw his friends hurting or in danger, he just couldn't stand still. He was lazy, but he wasn't heartless.

"Hey Naruto," Shikamaru greeted as he offered a hand to help the blonde up.

The blonde spoke softly, "Sorry for running into you…" as he kept his head down with bangs covering his eyes.

Shikamaru smirked and said, "Hey hey, what kind of greeting is that? No need to apologize. Stop being so troublesome and let's talk man-to-man what's bothering you."

Naruto hesitated for a moment. "Umm, I don't think you can-"

The chunin quickly cut him off and said, "Help you? Hey don't underestimate me, you can trust me," he finished with a cocky but encouraging smile.

Hope poured into Naruto's eyes as he looked up to his lazy friend. "You're the last person I'm going to ask. I'm…I'm not going to ask anyone else," the blonde said tiredly.

Shikamaru nodded seriously, hoping that Naruto would just say whatever was on his mind.

The blonde rubbed his neck uncomfortably. "When…how do you know the best time to say the "L" word to the girl you like?

Shikamaru immediately frowned as the three most troublesome women in his life came to mind. They were none other than his overbearing mom, a certain mind-possessing teammate, and a fan-wielding psycho. _Damn why them? Bah…_

He thought about it hard for a few moments before he gave his answer. "Any time."

Naruto scrunched up his eyebrows in confusion. "Any time?"

Shikamaru grinned and confirmed, "Any time. You see it's quite easy. If the girl likes you back, then you can say it any time. If she doesn't like you, then at least you'll find out quickly so you don't have to trouble yourself over her."

The blonde frowned as that answer wasn't quite satisfactory. He thought about all those times that he did say, _"I love you,"_ only to be rejected quite spectacularly by one person in particular.

But that didn't stop Naruto from giving his friend a small smile in return. "Thanks a lot Shikamaru, I really appreciate your help." He waved goodbye, as he needed some space to think.

The chunin waved goodbye lazily and said, "No problem." _And good luck._

* * *

Naruto huffed and puffed as several large craters were formed around him. _Nothing like relieving the tension than an intense training session!_

As he focused on a particularly hard jutsu, he found himself thinking about the "L" word. Why was it becoming such a confounding word to him? When he was younger he used to be able to say the word with abandon. However, now it was a lot harder. Too much time has passed. It wasn't so easy to say anymore. Heck, it wasn't even the same meaning anymore. That 'love' he so easily used and tossed around in his younger days was a joke really…compared to this feeling he was feeling now.

This feeling made his heart race just seeing her. A tiny glimpse of her would brighten his day. Just seeing her smile made him smile. Seeing her full of happiness made him happy. When he was near her he just felt butterflies in his stomach. He cared for her so much. And he loved her so much that he made that miserable promise. He knew what the fulfillment of that promise might mean. That she would be gone forever from his grasp. Even though it hurt like crazy, if it was important to her, then it was important to him. And if it meant in the end that he wasn't part of her happiness…he could accept that as long as she was happy.

Naruto sighed as he laid on his back in exhaustion. He was tired…so very tired from it all. A little nap will do him good.

When he finally dozed off, Naruto found himself in a familiar dream world. _Damn, why the heck do I have to be here of all places._

He looked up and there standing proudly before him was none other than Kyuubi. **"_Brat, what are you doing here?" _**Kyuubi roared.

For some reason Naruto didn't feel the slightest bit intimidated and it showed in his reaction as he yawned. **_"You indignant wench, you dare to yawn in my presence!"_**

Naruto sighed as he looked up into the feared demon's face. _"Fox, I'd love to fight with you but I just don't feel like it right now."_

Kyuubi took on an air of surprise. **_"You…tired? Not wanting to fight? Hah! I thought I would never see the day,"_** the demon sneered.

The blonde had no idea why, but he looked up at Kyuubi with his most determined look and spoke calmly. _"Do you know what love is? Do demons even love? It's easier to fight to the death…than to talk with someone you love who will never love you back…"_

The nine-tailed fox looked down strangely on the blonde without its usual killer intent. **_"Brat, I thought you were stronger than this. As for love…I don't envy the crap that's going on in you. Even though I think it would be amusing to see you continue to muddle around in confusion, I'll give you some help."_**

Naruto was really surprised. He cleaned his ear out and asked, _"Did I hear that right?_

Kyuubi growled in slight annoyance. **_"Don't think it'll become a habit brat. Here's the hint, remember your ninja way. Looks like our time is done, she's here."_**

* * *

_'Ninja way?' What the heck did Kyuubi mean…_

Naruto's thoughts cut off prematurely as looking down on him were the most beautiful and sharp emerald eyes that he has ever seen.

He gasped as he felt his throat tighten and constrict and the butterflies come out in full force and wage war on his stomach.

Naruto took a glimpse of her full being and just delighted in her presence. He took in a breathe of her aroma and felt immense satisfaction. _Just like the flowers that I got for her…smells just like cherry blossoms._

The blonde grinned stupidly as he kept looking at Sakura.

Sakura was looking down on her teammate in a contemplative mood. As she noticed his constant attention, she moved her right arm and lightly bopped him in the head. "Baka, stop gawking!" After demanding this, a slight blush could be seen on her pretty face.

Naruto looked to the side as he smiled and softly said, "Sorry, Sakura-chan."

The pink-haired medic furrowed her eyebrows slightly as she was worried for her teammate.

Thinking back to the last advice Kyuubi gave him; Naruto wondered why his ninja way would be a hint.

What was it about his ninja way? No matter how hard the blonde thought about it, no idea seemed to be coming through his thick skull. He was about ready to concede defeat and believe that the "L" word would be one of those things forever out of his grasp.

But when Naruto thought about giving up, something stirred like a wild fire inside of him. _Give up? I don't want to give up to someone like him even if I die!_

As that memory of his fight with Gaara came to his mind, Naruto's face brightened as the hint was starting to make sense to him. _Damn I can't believe it took someone like Kyuubi to wake up an idiot like me. There's no way I'll give up on Sakura-chan that easy, absolutely no way!_

Finally taking a hold of the resolution that was evading him for so long, Naruto gave Sakura his most serious face. No more joking around and pretending. This time it would be for real. He closed his eyes as he nervously swallowed a gulp of saliva.

Naruto looked straight into her eyes. "Sakura-chan, I love you."

_There, I finally said it in a meaningful and serious way!_

But seeing no response from the pink-haired girl, Naruto started to feel scared. Her eyes looked so distant. The blonde felt downright frightened. He closed his eyes for a moment, as he wanted so much to stop the tears from falling down. _I failed._

Naruto was about to get up and run away in disgrace before he felt something warm and moist on his lips. _Eh?!_

Sakura disengaged her face but kept her body close, hugging the blonde beneath her. With tears falling down her face, she simply whispered, "Naruto you silly baka, I love you too."

And with that, Naruto's tears mixed in freely with hers as they both cried and kissed each other. After all, it's okay to cry when you're happy.

**The End**

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Author Notes: I had this idea for a while now and it centered on when is the right time to tell someone you love them. Since Naruto is my favorite character I definitely wanted to write the scenario with him and from there, ideas just started to come quickly. I debated several times exactly how it would go about and which people he would ask, but I finally settled on the scenes you see before you. Some day I would like to write a companion chapter to this in which I detail what Sakura was doing and feeling on this exact day where Naruto was finally able to muster enough courage to confess his love for her. 

Personally I love Hinata, but I feel that she wouldn't ever be able to challenge Naruto to become a better man in the kind of way that Sakura would. Just wanted to apologize to Hinata fans for having to see her cry (dunno if any of them will read this though once they realize it's a NaruSaku lol).

Also personally this is a really sensitive issue for me as I failed miserably in real life in saying the "L" word. The first girl I said it to it was way too late. The second girl I said it to was way too early. I'm hoping if I ever feel like this again for another girl, that time I can say it at just the right time. Or maybe I can meet just the right girl. Damn I'm a hopeless romantic. Like usual, reviews are appreciative, and I love constructive criticism that helps me to become a better writer.

Started: 2-3-07  
Finished: 2-6-07


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